Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Triumph Sports Cars
    Triumph Sports Cars
    Triumph Sports Cars
    Ebook87 pages47 minutes

    Triumph Sports Cars

    By Graham Robson

    2/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    In the 1950s and 1960s, British sports car ruled the road, and their charge was led by Triumphs. From the TR2, its first modern sports car, Triumph went on to produce a host of classic sports designs such as the Spitfire, GT, and Stag, as well as more TR models, ending with the TR7 in the late 1970s. These represented the epitome of the contemporary classic British sports car. Fast, nimble, and gorgeous to behold, Triumphs offered the everyday motorist an exhilarating drive at a price that they could afford. Popular both in the UK and the US, the Triumph range helped define the entire genre, with sports cars today like the Mazda MX-5 having their roots in models like the Stag.
    Illustrated throughout and written by acclaimed motoring writer and historian Graham Robson, this book guides the reader through the history of this classic British marque from its heyday in the 1960s and 1970s through to its eventual demise in the 1980s.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBloomsbury Publishing
    Release dateFeb 23, 2017
    ISBN9781784421052
    Triumph Sports Cars
    Author

    Graham Robson

    Graham Robson, a motoring writer and historian with many awards to his credit, has always been close to the Healey family. He has published numerous motoring titles and commentates at leading events. He wrote The Ford Cortina, Austin-Healey and Jaguar for Shire

    Related to Triumph Sports Cars

    Titles in the series (100)

    View More
    View More

    Related ebooks

    Automotive For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      New Star On Wheels

      Sep 8, 2023

      New Star On Wheels
      3 min read

    • Article

      Big Tank Beemer

      Jun 8, 2022

      Big Tank Beemer
      6 min read

    • Article

      Alfa Males

      Jun 11, 2021

      A giant-killer in its day, just 501 examples of this boxy tearaway were built as homologation specials for touring car racing. A 1,5-litre twin-cam engine with twin sidedraft Webers pushed out 82 kW. Plexiglas rear windows and magnesium rims kept ker

      1 min read

    • Article

      Fiat X1/9

      May 12, 2023

      Fiat X1/9
      14 min read

    • Article

      T140 Bonneville

      Oct 29, 2018

      T140 Bonneville
      14 min read

    • Article

      Super-heavy Champs

      Feb 24, 2023

      Super-heavy Champs
      9 min read

    • Article

      Cacciatore Rosso

      Oct 31, 2020

      Cacciatore Rosso
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Other Shelbys

      Aug 29, 2019

      The Other Shelbys
      5 min read

    • Article

      Speed Week 2021

      Nov 5, 2021

      Speed Week 2021
      7 min read

    • Article

      Rotodip

      Jan 21, 2022

      Rotodip
      10 min read

    • Article

      Big T Roadster Lives On

      May 15, 2023

      Big T Roadster Lives On
      5 min read

    • Article

      Scale SLAMMERS

      Sep 24, 2021

      Scale SLAMMERS
      9 min read

    • Article

      Max-imum Impact!

      May 17, 2021

      Max-imum Impact!
      5 min read

    • Article

      First Of The Line

      Sep 1, 2021

      First Of The Line
      7 min read

    • Article

      Jaguar Engines

      Sep 1, 2023

      It seems unfeasible to me that between 1948 and 1996 Jaguar and Daimler introduced just five new engine families; the XK, 2.5 V8, V12, AJ6 and AJV8. Most mainstream manufacturers have that many engines in production at any one time. By sheer coincide

      3 min read

    • Article

      CAMSHAFTS & VALVE GEAR

      Nov 19, 2020

      The SOHC BMW M10 fours and M30 sixes from the sixties, seventies, eighties and early nineties were part of BMW’s reputation - both for being very good when new and also for camshaft wear. That was due in part to neglect and another due to not being t

      4 min read

    • Article

      GREEN With Envy

      Mar 29, 2021

      GREEN With Envy
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Man Dedicated To Formula Vees

      Oct 5, 2021

      The Man Dedicated To Formula Vees
      3 min read

    • Article

      Top Hat Tales

      Nov 26, 2021

      Top Hat Tales
      7 min read

    • Article

      100 Years Of Parts

      Nov 5, 2021

      100 Years Of Parts
      1 min read

    • Article

      Enterprising Engines

      May 9, 2019

      Enterprising Engines
      5 min read

    • Article

      Facts Of The Furious

      May 21, 2021

      Facts Of The Furious
      2 min read

    • Article

      Sketchbook Travels

      Dec 1, 2021

      Sketchbook Travels
      5 min read

    • Article

      You Get Iconic Looks With Modern Tech, Increased Power, Up-to-date Handling And Greater Reliability

      Aug 24, 2021

      UNLESS YOU’VE BEEN LIVING under a rock in recent years, you’ll be aware of the Singer 911. The brainchild of Englishman Rob Dickinson – cousin of Iron Maiden frontman Bruce and a renowned musical artist himself – the Los Angeles-based company has mad

      2 min read

    • Article

      1984 Mercedes-benz 500sec

      Nov 12, 2020

      1984 Mercedes-benz 500sec
      1 min read

    • Article

      Sales Spotlight

      Apr 7, 2023

      Sales Spotlight
      1 min read

    • Article

      Aston Martin Victor

      Aug 27, 2021

      Thumb the start button. Whirrrr … whomp! The ground shakes as 7.3 liters of naturally aspirated Aston Martin V-12 explode to life before settling down to a busy idle, baritone menace rumbling from the bazooka-caliber side pipes. Cinch the four-point

      3 min read

    • Article

      Bargain Bullets

      Aug 16, 2021

      Bargain Bullets
      24 min read

    • Article

      The Wonder Years

      Jun 30, 2023

      The Wonder Years
      2 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Triumph Sports Cars

    2/5

    1 rating0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Triumph Sports Cars - Graham Robson

      CONTENTS

      TRIUMPH – THE FIRST DECADES

      THE 1800 AND 2000 ROADSTERS

      FROM THE TR2 TO THE TR6

      THE SPITFIRE AND THE GT6

      THE STAG

      THE TR7 AND THE TR8

      RACING, RALLYING AND RECORD-BREAKING

      FURTHER READING

      PLACES TO VISIT

      TRIUMPH – THE FIRST DECADES

      ALTHOUGH BEFORE THE Second World War there were many famous Triumphs – Glorias, Vitesses, Southern Crosses and Dolomites – which sold in modest numbers, it wasn’t until the TR2 came along that the marque truly prospered. Triumph’s story began in Coventry in the 1880s, when German-born Siegfried Bettman set himself up as a maker of pedal cycles.

      As soon as reliable engines were available, starting in 1902 Bettman’s Triumph Cycle Co. Ltd began building motorcycles. This proved so successful that by the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 Triumph had become a major player in the industry; during the war the company supplied 30,000 machines to the British Army.

      Triumph’s links with the War Office were made through a young army officer; Colonel Claude Holbrook later joined Triumph in Coventry as general manager. From that point he became a dominant personality in the thriving business.

      In the boom that followed the First World War Triumph was finally tempted to design its first car, but its factory in Priory Street was less than ideal: not only was it busy with the production of motorcycles, but it was an old seven-level building, totally unsuitable for building bulky four-wheelers.

      Bettman was unconcerned. First he dabbled with the idea of buying up Hillman, and was even asked if he wanted to buy Morris Motors; then he watched as most other new and under-capitalised car-making projects foundered. Finally, in December 1921 he bought up a factory in Clay Lane, Coventry, where Dawson cars had been produced from 1919.

      It took sixteen more months to get the first Triumph car ready for sale. Much of that time was spent in finding experts to design it. In the end a trio from Lea-Francis – Arthur Alderson, Alan Lea and Arthur Sykes – were hired, while the noted consultant Harry Ricardo was employed to design a side-valve 1,393cc engine. The very first Triumph car, the 10/20 hp model, was revealed in April 1923.

      Except for adopting newfangled hydraulic brakes in 1924, Triumph built ordinary, but relatively expensive, middle-class machines for some years. Chassis frames had channel section side members, the suspension was by stiff half-elliptic leaf springs, the engines had side-valve cylinder heads, and the vehicles’ performance was pedestrian, to say the least. It was years before Triumph built its own bodies.

      Triumph noted the success of the Seven, made by Austin, and soon set about matching it. Stanley Edge, who had already drawn up the Austin Seven to Herbert Austin’s wishes, joined Triumph to repeat the trick, this time working for chief draughtsman A. A. Sykes. The first truly small Triumph, the Super Seven, was unveiled in September 1927. It was perfect timing for the company.

      The first Triumph car, the 10/20 model, was introduced in 1923, and this roadster was the first sporty version to be put on sale.

      Walter Belgrove, who eventually became Triumph’s chief body design engineer, arrived on the scene at the same time as Edge, but recalls a lack of strategy: ‘The company lacked a positive design section in those days. The models, like Topsy in Uncle Tom’s Cabin, just growed …’

      However, the Super Seven proved a worthy competitor of the Austin Seven, and a great success. Despite its very conventional engineering and a tiny 832cc side-valve engine it boasted all the best characteristics of its rival. Priced at the same level as the Austin, it was a 50-mph machine with a

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1